“Viva la Musica” Concert for Peace with Dudamel, De Vita and Blades gears up …

11 a.m. Caracas 22 July … against the spectacular backdrop of the 2,600 metre Pico Oriental that overlooks Caracas on one side and the Caribbean on the other, Evenpro are today mounting an event featuring Gustavo Dudamel, 150 players from the Simón Bolívar Symphony orchestra, Franco De Vita and salsa legend Ruben Blades in a performance at the normally restricted ‘La Carlota’ airfield used by the military in downtown Caracas. Guests will include quatro legend Jorge Glem. The concert “Viva la Musica,” is being billed as a “concert for peace.” 200,000 are expected. De Vita is closing his world tour with this performance, and the highlight is likely to be “Maestra Vida,” a salsa opera by Blades, that is almost two decades old. Expect a DVD of this event before long.

Crowds are already snaking into the venue into their thousands. Let’s hope yesterday’s torrential tropical storm doesn’t return. the event runs all day and finishes later tonight. This is going to be quite a day….

the performance site at 11.a.m. this morning, with majestic Pico Oriental in the background and military helicopters in the foreground.

Check out the crowds on the bridge lower right, already queueing all the way round the back of the airfield at 10 a.m. this morning.

The grey clouds at yesterday’s rehearsal

And a view from Jorge Glem’s music stand, with Gustavo Dudamel, on the right, at rehearsals earlier this week.